Behind the Steel Curtain
What a 24 hours it has been.
The Pittsburgh Steelers got their ninth win of the season in an upset win over the Detroit Lions, and the New England Patriots did the Steelers a solid by defeating the Baltimore Ravens to push them to the brink of elimination from playoff contention.
And, on a personal level, I turn 27 today, and former Steelers OC Todd Haley is officially my new full-time co-host on Bleav In Steelers – shameless plug, go listen to our Steelers-Lions recap when you’re done here.
Alright, enough of that. Varsity and JV. Let’s do this.
If I had said that Kenneth Gainwell would be the Steelers’ MVP of 2025 back in July, you all would have thrown tomatoes at me. But the former Philadelphia Eagle has become one of the best bargains in the NFL, making just $1.79 million in 2025. He had one of the most heads-up plays of the season, making an incredible falling catch through pass interference, realizing he wasn’t touched, and getting up to run into the end zone. He led the team with five catches and 78 yards for a touchdown, and added 50 yards on the ground – he’s a legitimate Pro Bowl candidate for 2025.
It’s pretty crazy that in a game that featured Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, the best running back duo on the field resided in Pittsburgh. Warren had arguably his best game as a pro, rushing for 143 yards and two touchdowns – both of which were for 45 yards in the fourth quarter.
Rodgers had another really solid performance, throwing for 266 yards and a touchdown. Over his last three games, he has four touchdowns to zero interceptions, and the Steelers have scored at least 27 points in all three games.
The Steelers held the Lions to 15 yards on the ground. 15. Aaron Rodgers had seven more rushing yards than Jahmyr Gibbs. Superb job by the Steelers’ defense in making the Lions one-dimensional.
Miller entered the game with one catch on the season – he had three on one drive. One was a fourth-down conversion in which he took a big hit, and another was a toe-tap on the sideline for a third-down conversion. Great game for Miller.
Thielen had four catches for 49 yards, the biggest of which was a 12-yard reception on 3rd-and-11 on the final drive of the first half that ended with the Gainwell touchdown.
Dugger led the team with seven tackles and had the sack for a safety after Darnell Washington’s red zone fumble.
Benton did a tremendous job in clogging up run lanes and also had a sack and two additional hits on Jared Goff.
The Steelers ran the ball for 230 yards. This offensive line has been tremendous throughout the...
